"My one true love is Chardonnay."
HER NAME
REBECCA DUGMORE
MAKES SIPS AT
KIN / THE STOKE
As soon as we got on the call with Bec we were immersed in the incredible homely feel of The Stoke and Kin wines. Her husband and co-owner, Nick popped in and had a chat, there was a guest appearance from their son at bed time and it just felt like old friends catching up. Bec’s warmth and open-ness (mixed with her Aussie/Scottish accent) was a breath of fresh air and it’s evident both her and Nick are so deeply infused in every delicious bottle of wine they create.
Within the first five minutes Bec announced that her “one true love is Chardonnay” (bumper sticker material or what?) and we’ve gotta hand it to her for putting Nick in his place. Wine comes first, always. But with her time spread across two wine labels, a part-time marketing gig and two kids, Bec credits Nick with being her biggest support and “cheerleader”. We chatted vineyard romance, Nick’s jug band, ‘mum gin’ (that’s 3 fingers of gin, FYI) and Bec provided some poetic nuggets of wisdom for all the wine drinkers out there. Basically, “drink what you love, not what you think you should”. And honestly, we love their wines.
“I think if you have to in any way talk yourself into liking something because you want to like it then that wine hasn’t done its job. It should be delicious, it shouldn’t be controversially delicious or you think you should like it because everyone else does. It should speak to you and that is actually the only thing that really matters.”
SIP’ER: What is your key role within The Stoke / Kin?
BEC: The Stoke is Nick and I together. Kangaroo Island is his passion, but for me I’ve always loved Chardonnay and the Adelaide Hills so I wanted to make something for myself. That didn’t really fit within The Stoke, so that’s where I came up with my own little side label, Kin. Obviously Nick is hugely helpful to me as he’s in the winery full time now. [she says this as Nick brings her a glass of wine]. We started The Stoke in 2016 and then in 2017 I started making the Kin wines. But after I had my son, in the Vintage of 2019, my heart just wasn't in it. I suppose my story is very linked to motherhood and being realistic, not like one of those amazing Instagram super-mums that’s working with the baby in the carrier. The hard thing about being a woman in any industry is having your brain in two places, but I didn’t want to give up my own project. Nick really is my big cheerleader and the one that actually does the 9-5 in the winery. We don’t agree on lots of things but we’re 5 years in now and I think we’ve got a pretty good dynamic!
SIP’ER: How did you start?
BEC: So we were both winemakers and we both studied winemaking. We met in New Zealand and had a vintage romance!
SIP’ER: That’s so cute!
BEC: We know quite a lot of wine couples that got together that way and it’s really sweet!
But basically, I had a very corporate winemaking job for two and a half years, which allowed me to get my visa for Australia. By the time I finished doing that, I felt a bit soulless and I just kind of wanted to fall back in love with wine. We went together to do vintage in Bordeaux and we talked and talked about starting our own business. Neither of us spoke French so we really only had each other to talk to for three months! So that was how it started, we got 2 tonnes of fruit the next year and created a brand, it just felt natural. I’m quite risk averse, whereas Nick is the risk taker, so I don’t know if I'd do this on my own. I have heaps of admiration for women who are driving it themselves!
SIP’ER: What’s been your career highlight?
BEC: It’s still to come! No, my career has been really varied. I suppose a highlight in our brand has been getting our Pet Nat in the Hot 100 because that is a wine that mixes for me the hedonic, fun, don’t-overthink-it, deliciousness. But actually, there's quite a lot of technical stuff behind that wine. There's a lot of nasty pet nat out there [laughs] and it's quite hard to get it right! It’s like pulling off that effortless look even though there’s heaps of work to get there. So I was really proud of that. That award night was just like ‘this is what it should be about’.
SIP’ER: Did you have a drink to celebrate?
BEC: Yeah! I’m trying to remember... [turns to Nick] Nick, remember when we found out we were in the Hot 100 and something else amazing happened too?
NICK: Oh yeah we found out on the award night and we got shitfaced...
BEC: Yeah we did get shitfaced…[laughs] So this is Nick’s career highlight, not mine, but he plays in a band called Dr Piffle & The Burlap Band and that day they got invited to play a big music festival in SA. And then we got the wine award, so it was two kind of like ‘teenage dreams’.
SIP’ER: We also want to know what instrument Nick plays in the band…?
BEC: Oh there’s like 11 of them, they’ve been around for about 10 years but now they’re all dads. Back in the day they were all really hessian looking; long hair, beards. It's a jug band, there’s some real instruments but there’s like a washtub bass and a washboard. Nick plays the trumpet and then in songs when he’s not playing the trumpet he has a bit of driftwood that he bangs on the ground.
SIP’ER: What’s the most challenging part of your job that not many people would know about? What drink do you feel like after a day of this?
BEC: I was going to give you a snappy answer... but the most challenging part is that I sometimes get this crippling self doubt about my own work. And I think, it's not necessarily a female thing, but I know quite a lot of girls in the wine industry who are like that, sort of high achieving perfectionists. It’s really hard to put yourself out there in a space that seems to be full of young, ‘just had a go’ guys who have kind of got the arrogance to stand up and be like “woah, look I made this thing, it's amazing”. So that’s something I really struggle with. I don't know what the drink to take the edge off is but definitely wouldn’t be one of my own wines. So it would have to be gin. Gin and tonic, but the kind of gin my mum would pour which is like 3 fingers. That's what I would need, just like a ‘mum gin’ to blur the edges of that shit self talk.
SIP’ER: We’re really glad you said that, because we’re sure there’s a lot of women in the industry that would feel the same way. And that goes across all industries!
BEC: You’re right! It kind of would be crazy to admit that in any story about women in business. We can do the whole “we’re so awesome” thing but it's really hard out here, it’s hard to stick your neck out.
SIP’ER: If you had to match one of your products with your personality, which would it be and why?
BEC: Chardonnay! It sounds like a character from like Footballers wives or something, but the thing about Chardonnay is that not everybody likes it. It’s complicated, if you don’t get it, that’s okay. So I would be happy to say that’s my personality, it’s okay if it’s not for you! I was reading Sally Rooney’s new book last night - I can put book reviews in too if you like! But she says this thing about being “loved deeply rather than liked widely” and there you go, that’s how I feel about Chardonnay!
SIP’ER: What do you want people to take away from the experience after drinking your wines?
BEC: I think I've seriously put a lot of work into making them really good wines. I want them to be first and foremost, really enjoyable. I think if you have to in any way talk yourself into liking something because you want to like it then that wine hasn’t done its job. It should be delicious, it shouldn’t be controversially delicious or you think you should like it because everyone else does. It should speak to you and that is actually the only thing that really matters.
SIP’ER: It should just be as simple as that, someone made this and it's good and it's enjoyable, try it!
BEC: I always say to people, no one doubts their ability to determine what is delicious food, we don’t really over complicate that, we just know when things are yummy or not. And that’s fine if you don’t like.. anchovies or something. People don’t really try that hard to like foods they don’t like or pretend that they do. But somehow with drinks we sort of get a bit more caught up in what we should or shouldn’t like and whether it’s cool or sophisticated or not. Of course people fall in love with brands or what they want to be associated with but I just think trust your taste buds - you know what you like to eat, so if you drink something and it's good, then it's good!
SIP’ER: Just drink what you like to drink!
BEC: Yeah, or maybe you need to try the anchovies. Sometimes we have to challenge ourselves a little bit and you might learn to like it. Life’s too short!
SIP’ER: What is your favourite beverage you produce? Why is it your favourite?
BEC: My favourite is the Pinot Gris, because I like Pinot Gris and I'm not afraid to say it! It's not a super complicated wine, it's bloody delicious and that’s somewhere I've gotten myself to, to be comfortable to say like, this is yum! I'm just really happy with it, it’s really yummy and it’s always going to make me smile when I drink that wine.
SIP’ER: What’s the best way to consume your products? Get as creative as you’d like!
BEC: My ideal scenario for drinking anything is a long, messy lunch. My favourite thing is this idea of Sunday lunch, friends around and just food that's kind of slow and casual. And it just kind of evolves; people can slope off and have a little nap on the sofa, people can go have a swim and come back and get the cheese out. I’m all about a long lunch, forget about dinner! And heaps of wine, not because it’s about getting drunk but just that feeling of generosity and abundance. I would be honoured if anyone would involve my wines in that kind of scenario.